Press release

President visiting all FIVB World Cup sites sees youth abound

President Wei said that he was encouraged by the large amount of school children that were taking in the World Cup as it is likely to encourage more to play volleyball

Kumamoto, Japan, November 26, 2011 – FIVB President Jizhong Wei has been zig-zagging across Japan as part of a ‘goodwill’ tour to take in action from each and every site of the FIVB Volleyball World Cup Japan 2011 for both genders and build relationships with the local organizers.

Starting with the FIVB Women’s World Cup, President Wei stopped in all six cities used in the tournament. He made stops in both Hiroshima and Nagano in the first round, followed by Toyama and Hiroshima in the second round. President Wei visited Sapporo and Okayama in the third round, followed by both venues used in Tokyo for the fourth round.

President Wei started the opening round of the on-going FIVB Men’s World Cup in Nagoya before traveling to Kagoshima. He watched second round matches in Kumamoto on Thursday before traveling to Osaka for Friday’s second round matches. President Wei will visit both Fukuoka and Hamamatsu during the third round before finishing his whirlwind tour of Japan in Tokyo for the fourth round.

All told, President Wei will have stayed in 12 different cities from the start of the FIVB Women’s World Cup on November 4 and the conclusion of the FIVB Men’s World Cup on December 4.

“The Japan Volleyball Association has helped arrange this trip for me,” President Wei said. “I have had the pleasure to meet all the local organizers and thank them for all the hard work that goes into organizing these two wonderful FIVB World Cup events.”

Along the way, President Wei has been impressed with the attendance at the sites, especially the Site B locations without local favorites Japan taking the court. As part of the crowds filling up the arenas, school children are coming out in masses to experience watching the top 12 teams in the world first-hand.

“I find important the organizing of the school boys and school girls attending the matches,” President Wei said. “By attending the matches, this may excite them to play volleyball. With Japan playing, fans will come to watch them. But it is good to see the school children and other fans come to watch volleyball without Japan playing. Here they have full spectators.”

At the recently completely FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Cup first round action in Kagoshima without Japan as one of the six countries competing, a total of 33,100 fans came through the gates for an average of 3,677 fans. A big part of the fan base for the three days were school-age children dressed in their matching school uniforms. On the final day of the opening round in Kagoshima on November 22, 2,689 students – just under 900 per match on average – ranging from elementary school to college attended the three matches to boost the daily average.

“The FIVB was very satisfied with the fan support shown in Kagoshima,” said Mr Cristobal Marte Hoffiz, the FIVB first executive vice-president and FIVB Men’s World Cup Control Committee president for Site B in Kagoshima. “It is exciting to see the enthusiasm of the crowd cheering on teams from other countries, along with engaging so many young fans with our sport. The future of our sport lies partially with the next generation of players, as well as the fans who will follow our game. Now these school children can say they have watched the top teams in the world in person.”

President Wei stated that there is another competition than the product on the court, and that is with other sports in general to attract youth players to volleyball.

“In all the sports, the competition is great to have school boys and girls competing in their sport,” President Wei said. “There is heavy competition in school for kids to play the different sports.”

President Wei stated that the FIVB is investing into programs for school-age volleyball players, including Cool Volleyball, Volleyball Festival and the Youth Olympic Games that debuted in 2010. He discussed a change to include beach volleyball at the Youth Olympic Games as a way to involve more countries and young athletes playing the sport, thus promoting beach volleyball in schools.

One other aspect of the game President Wei is proud of is the on-going progress made in quantity and quality of female referees in the sport. Three female referees were nominated to the 2011 FIVB Men’s World Cup, and Serbia’s Zorica Bjelic and Spain’s Susana Maria Rodriguez Jativa made FIVB history by serving as the first all-female referee crew for a FIVB Men’s World Cup match when they took to the court on November 22 for the Egypt versus China match.

“For women’s referees, the FIVB policy is a little different than other sports,” President Wei said. “We use both genders of referees in both men’s and women’s matches as an equal business. Female referees are just as good as male referees.”

While female referees are just as good as their male counterparts, society itself may be the biggest hindrance.

“The problem is not technique, but social,” President Wei said on attracting more qualified female referees. “We are asking federations to help solve this problem as female referees deal with their family issues, time away home and cultural issues regarding women. The FIVB is ready to intervene.”

With the first 2012 Olympic Games qualification tournament either completed (FIVB Women’s World Cup) or just nearing the halfway point (FIVB Men’s World Cup), President Wei continues to be on his whirlwind tour through Japan and is getting even more excited for the Olympic Games next summer.